Thursday, February 15, 2018
Fear of Nuclear War
During the Cold War, Americans were in fear that they would be bombed by the Soviets. Russia finally built a successful nuclear bomb. Bomb safety was taught in schools to young children. The mascot was Bert the Turtle, and he told the children to duck and cover their necks. This is similar to what we are told now as children to protect from earthquakes. Even when walking down the street if a bomb is dropped you need to drop and cover your neck. Of course, this would not protect you from a nuclear bomb. This was most likely released to calm people down and make them feel safer. During the hysteria, many Americans built bomb shelters in their homes. All of this was caused because the Americans were scared the Russians would bomb them. However, the same fear was happening on Russia's side. Russia feared that any second the Americans would bomb them. Both countries were in an arms race. America believed that Russia was way ahead of them in the number of bombs and plains. In reality, the gap was way bigger than what the Americans thought, and it was in their favor.
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I think it is interesting that you introduce Bert the Turtle in this post, as Bert symbolizes the time period of nuclear fear in America. Innocent children who were unaware of the ever rising tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were learning how to prepare for a nuclear attack. While it was not in the best interest of Americans to educate their youth about why they were learning about Bert the Turtle, it was an unfortunate necessity for Bert to exist in the minds of America's youth.
ReplyDeleteI think you nicely highlight the many contradictions seen during the Cold War. Both sides saw the other as being hostile and, like we saw from the documentaries, did not consider that the other side could be scared of them as well. A lack of knowledge by the Americans caused an increase in nuclear arsenal even though there was no need, and the preparedness for war was caused by brinkmanship and an arms race that was supposed to prevent war, but instead only lead to more tension. Do we see examples of this level of frenzy and anxiety today? What could we look to improve on as another nuclear standoff becomes less and less unrealistic?
ReplyDeleteThe fear around nuclear was was really bad, and I agree that the Bert the Turtle video may have just been made to calm down citizens since covering your head with an everyday object would not save you from a nuclear blast or even the shockwave. It is also interesting how you mention that both sides were fearful of each other but neither really wanted war.
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